Cruisin' 2010

Cruisin' 2010 - Page Text Content

S: CRUISIN' 2010 - The Mexican Riviera

BC: Copyright 2010 SilBeckpress.com

FC: CRUISIN' 2010

1: On September 12, 2010, Lenie, David, Harry and Herman set out to explore the Mexican Riviera. They commandeered the good ship Carnival Splendor for this journey. The following pages contain their report.

2: Preparations for the journey start early. Everything has to be just so.

3: "We arrive in Long Beach and get our first look at the enormous floating castle. Moored right next to the Queen Mary, it dwarfs the stately ship. Boasting 12 passenger floors, several pools, Jacuzzis and a variety of clubs, restaurants and gathering places, we should be very comfortable.

4: In our staterooms, we are welcomed by personalized video screens and playful animal figures made from towels.

6: The lobby is a nice meeting place with live music every day. And drinks are yum!

7: When everything is on board, we take a last look at Long Beach before we leave at 5:00 pm under a blue sky.

9: Meet Ari and I Made, our "personal" attendants at dinner. They are very friendly, both from Indonesia, and are delighted to hear Lenie and Herman have visited their country. Service and food are tops!!

10: The first 2 days are "fun at sea", so plenty of time to explore the ship and its many wonders. Food, food, food is available at all hours and many different places. This is going to be great!

12: We relax and soon we forget all about the outside world.....

13: .....until we wake up Wednesday morning in Puerto Vallarta and steamy hot weather. Sight-seeing becomes somewhat of a challenge in this heat. But, margaritas are never far away!

15: After a refreshing drink, back to the ship and more food.

16: At the Captain's Dinner

17: We wake up to Mazatlan!

18: Ready to go to the city

19: Mazatlan, a city of more than a million, was celebrating its bicentennial. Festivities abounded.

22: An "open air" taxi takes us back to the ship and more food.

24: We wake up to another port: Cabo San Lucas where we have to take small boats to shore

25: We take the world-famous glass-bottom boat to the even more famous rocks of Cabo

27: A well-deserved cup of coffee and then back to the ship and cool air

28: Back on the top-deck for a last look at Mexico

29: And another Captain's Dinner

31: A last night on board, tax-free shopping, and we're ready to disembark in Long Beach, the drive home and a new trip to Sequoia and San Francisco. But that's another story......."